Cool light discovery saves energy, makes microchips more environmentally friendly

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By using low-temperature ultraviolet lamps to make silicon dioxide (a critical component for most modern chips), the microchips can be produced at room temperature using less power and fewer resources. Currently, chip manufacturing uses energy-draining furnaces heated to temperatures exceeding 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit.

Because silicon dioxide forms very slowly at room temperature, intense temperatures are necessary to heat the silicone wafers from which the chips are cut. Unfortunately, the heat can also cause the transistors on a chip, which are becoming more densely packed as better chips are developed, to bleed into each other.

The new technique uses an ultraviolet lamp that emits light from a wavelength of 126 nanometers. This causes oxygen molecules to break down into some atoms with a lot of energy and some with very little. The energized molecules can then be used to create silicon dioxide without heating.

Professor Ian Boyd, one of the researchers behind the discovery, said, "This finding means that the industry's energy, and subsequent cost savings, could reduce the prices of electronic devices for consumers and, of course, create a positive environmental impact."

Boyd admits that the process can cause defects in the chips, but notes that this wavelength has never before been applied to chip production. The future of the technique, according to Boyd, will be determined by testing in a clean-room environment like the ones used by chip manufacturers, to see if industrial-scale use is feasible.

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